Sporting Goals at NGHS

9th November 2018

Off the back of a very successful season in which the Year 7 and 8 football team won the City 5 a-side finals, finished runners up in regional indoor finals and came 3rd in the Independent School National Finals, they’ve most certainly hit the ground running this academic year.

They began the new season with a hard-fought win over Fernwood School, winning 2-1 after extra time. This was closely followed by a narrow defeat to Ashfield – playing in an age-group higher than themselves – on penalties. Since this result, the girls haven’t looked back, recording convincing back-to-back victories over The Kimberley School (5-0) and South Nottinghamshire Academy (3-1) – both taking them into the next rounds of county competitions.

Sandwiched between these games was The Nottingham Post Sports Awards – an annual celebration of the sporting achievements throughout the city. Nominated by a parent, the team were shortlisted as one of three finalists where a panel of judges chose our team as the winner of Under-19 School Team of the Year – no small feat at the age of 13! Joining our Head and Director of Sport at the awards was Mr Sam Cooper from the Junior School, and parent Mrs Samantha Wagland, both of whom have been instrumental in the development, training and success of the team. The school’s ties with Nottingham Forest were celebrated in the paper, with a reflection on their half-time penalty shootout in front of 25,000 fans and their meeting with Forest players at St George’s Park a wonderful memory.

We are incredibly proud of our team’s achievements and their constant strive to push the expectations of girls in football. With the sport still largely male dominated, we’re really pleased and excited to offer football from Year 3 upwards, and our girls are providing a glimpse of what girls can really do. We wish them all the best for the rest of the season and look forward to hearing about their progress later in the year.